


Christmas Wishes

by ReidFan



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8954005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReidFan/pseuds/ReidFan
Summary: The BAU team celebrates Christmas together with a special gift for Spencer Reid. This story is a standalone but dovetails from my story "Part of the Family" and the reader may find it easier to follow this one having read Part of the Family first.Roxy makes an appearance. (She's getting to be my next favourite character)





	

Christmas Wishes (A CM fanfiction) ©mccabebabe@hotmail.com (Reidfan)

K+   CM Team, Reid, Rossi, Prentiss

 

Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers! And many, many thanks and hugs and appreciative kisses to my JitTTwin, Lady Diana for the Italian Christmas help; and to Aut for the BAU verification and invaluable second set of eyes.

 

“ _As we give presents at Christmas, we need to recognise that sharing our time and ourselves is such an important part of giving.”—_ Gordon B. Hinckley

 

*****************************************************************************************

 

“I need everyone in the conference room, please,” Emily Prentiss told them and as the other agents rose to comply, Tara Lewis touched Spencer Reid’s arm and motioned him aside. David Rossi stayed behind as well, and waited for Lewis to begin. Once Prentiss and the others were safely out of earshot, Tara spoke in low tones.

 

            “So, Reid—Spencer—Dave here wants the rest of us over for Christmas.”

 

            Reid’s face registered surprise and a smile stretched across his face. “The rest of us?” he asked.

 

            “JJ and Will are flying out to her mom’s with the boys tomorrow morning. She made those arrangements ages ago. But I’d like everyone else there,” Rossi told him.

 

            He nodded. “Okay. What’s with the subterfuge?” he asked, gesturing towards the team members who had just left the bullpen.

 

            Rossi looked past Reid to ensure Prentiss and the others were still out of range, “You still have that old car, Spencer?”

 

            Again, Reid nodded.

 

            Rossi smiled, “Okay, here’s the thing. I need you to help me make sure Emily comes. Ask her for a ride. Claim your car’s not working.”

 

            Reid smiled. “I don’t have to _claim_ that at all, Rossi. My car _is_ out of commission right now.”

 

            “Well that works out well,” Lewis smiled.

 

            “But why would Emily not come to the party, Rossi?” Reid asked.

 

            “I doubt she’d decline, but there is her mother. And that boyfriend in England.”

 

            Reid nodded acknowledgement, “She hasn’t mentioned anything about her mom in ages. Or Mark. But I _will_ need a ride. I’ve got this, Rossi, she wouldn’t want me to miss the party because I have no ride.”

 

            “Thank you, Spencer. That will really help. Saturday’s Christmas Eve. I have lots of room in my mansion. I’d like you all to stay over for Christmas. I’m flying out to see Joy next week, but I was hoping my DC family could spend Christmas with me at my place.”

 

            “That would be great,” Reid agreed.

 

            “Just go along with us, Spencer,” Lewis said, “We wanna make sure Emily will come.”

 

            Rossi clapped Reid on the back and the three of them headed to the conference room. Luke Alvez, Penelope Garcia, Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau and Emily Prentiss were already seated.

 

            Prentiss rose from her seat, file folder in hand. “All right guys, just wanted to pass on to you the thanks from the DCPD for our help in the Christmas killer case. Section Chief Cruz was pleased we managed to conclude this one without any further deaths, and before the holidays. Our unsub, Joshua Saunders is at the youth correctional centre undergoing evaluation.” Prentiss paused and gave Reid a smile, “Cruz was especially impressed by the way you handled talking Joshua down, Reid. Exemplary work.”

 

Reid acknowledged the praise with a returned smile as Prentiss continued to debrief them,

 

“And Joshua’s little brother Jason is being cared for by Children’s Services until his aunt and uncle from California can come and get him, he’ll be with them in time for Christmas.” She stopped to take a breath and smiled, “Which brings me to that. Christmas.” Sitting back down, she gestured towards David.

 

            Rossi stood up, waved acknowledgement at Prentiss and addressed the group, “Christmas at the Rossi mansion, folks. If everyone could bring their jammies and toothbrush, I’d like everybody to spend Christmas Eve with me, and we’ll all have Christmas Day together too, after Santa has stopped by with gifts for good little BAU boys and girls. Alvez, please bring Roxy, Emily, Sergio is welcome too, if he’s okay with dogs.”

 

            “Wow, I’m sorry we’re gonna miss it,” JJ lamented.

 

            “JJ, please,” Rossi shushed her, “You made your plans weeks ago, it’s okay. We’ll miss you, but those boys should see their grandmother.” He turned back to the rest of the team, “So, if you’re all not previously engaged?”

 

            Lewis and Alvez were on board immediately, the latter particularly grateful that Roxy was included. As they chatted happily, they noticed the disappointed look on Reid’s face. Lewis ventured,

 

            “Something wrong, Reid?”

 

“I’m not sure I can make it,” he began, looking from one to another team member until he made eye contact with Emily Prentiss and put on his best sad puppy dog look.

 

            “Reid?” Emily asked, instantly concerned.

 

            “I, well, I hate to ask, but Rossi lives way out in the suburbs and my car isn’t running right now.” He bit his lip then continued, “Emily, I, um—“

 

            A look of relief flooded her face and Prentiss interrupted him, “I can give you a lift, that’s no problem.”

           

            He heaved a sigh and thanked her, smiling as JJ playfully punched his arm and teased him, “You don’t honestly think for a minute that nobody would offer to take you?”

 

            Momentarily distracted, Reid didn’t see the conspiratorial grins shared by Lewis, Rossi and Prentiss.

 

            “All right then. Everyone. We’ll have our weekly debriefing meeting tomorrow morning, and then we’ll be breaking for the holidays. See everyone tomorrow,” Prentiss dismissed them. Rossi followed her down the hall to her office; the others made their way to their desks. Sitting across from Reid, Alvez couldn’t help but overhear Reid’s unsuccessful phone call. The team’s youngest member gave his iPhone a disappointed scowl and muttered, “Voice mail. Again,” before issuing a deep sigh and shoving the offending device back into his pocket. He gathered his jacket and messenger bag and headed to the elevator. Alvez watched as Reid disappeared into the elevator and turned back to find himself face to face with Garcia and JJ.

 

            “He,” Alvez gestured over his shoulder to indicate Reid, “Is really unhappy about something.”

 

            “We should go after him. I could go after him,” Garcia began, hauling one of her smartphones out of a pocket, “I’ll text him to wait for—“

 

            She was interrupted by the sudden positioning of a hand on hers, stopping her from composing the text, Garcia looked up from the hands and found herself looking into the eyes of Tara Lewis who shook her head.

 

            “No, Penelope. Leave him be,” Lewis directed.

 

            JJ’s brow furrowed. She wondered why Lewis seemed to know what was going on with Reid yet she did not. She hated being out of the loop and was grateful when Garcia asked.

 

            “What’s up with Boy Wonder?”

 

            “I’m not exactly sure,” Lewis said truthfully. While she was a party to the plot concocted by Rossi and Prentiss, she had no idea what they actually had up their sleeves.

 

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

 

            Rossi held open the door as Alvez wrestled with an enormous fir tree, dragging it through the open threshold into Rossi’s front foyer. The two men laughed as a few stray boughs slapped at Luke’s legs while he laid it down. Rossi shut the door against the brisk cold of outdoors and turned to face Alvez.

 

            “Here’s the tree stand,” he said, as he passed the item over to Luke.

 

            “Think it might be too tall for in here?” Alvez asked him as he set the tree’s bottom into the stand and secured the fasteners in place.

 

            Rossi shook his head but conceded, “I can get a saw if we have to cut it down some.”

 

            Roxy padded around the two men excitedly, pawing at her handler and sniffing at the tree, tail wagging madly. Luke laughed and told her to stand aside as he and Rossi lifted the tree to an upright position.

 

            “See, I told you,” Rossi chuckled. The tree, now stood vertical in its stand, the top of its greens a mere inches from the ceiling. “Come with me,” he directed as they ventured downstairs to the basement to retrieve boxes of Christmas lights and decorations. Several trips later, a dozen boxes lined the hallway. Rossi’s front foyer had a ten-foot ceiling with a skylight and rich mahogany coloured wainscoting along its corridor. Roxy sniffed each box as they’d come up the stairs and wagged her tail when Rossi invited her to follow him after the last two boxes were set down on the floor. Rossi filled the tree’s stand with sugared water and then the two men and the dog made their way into Rossi’s immense kitchen. After giving Roxy a bowl of water and a biscuit, Luke rejoined Dave at the counter and the two men began the job of preparing vegetables.

 

            “We’ll get as much of this done ahead of time as we can, Luke, so we’ll have more time to relax with everyone Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Penelope and Tara should be here any time now, and Emily will be here with Spencer a little later.”

 

            At the mention of his name, Alvez took the opportunity to ask, “Rossi, I know I’m still the new guy—Garcia won’t let me forget it—but I couldn’t help noticing Reid’s been really down the last couple days. I wonder if the case might’ve brought it on. Does he have an issue with Christmas?” Alvez felt a little guilty for asking, but his concern for his coworker was genuine and Rossi could tell by the tone of Luke’s voice.

 

            “He’s okay, Luke. A little distracted ‘cause he can’t see his mom over Christmas this year.” Rossi hoped that answer would satisfy Alvez. He opened the fridge door and removed a baking dish to check on its contents, deciding it needed a little more water and added that, and then returned the pungent dish to the refrigerator.

 

            Luke made a face as he caught the scent and asked, “What’s that?”

 

            “Baccala,” Rossi told him, “A very traditional Italian dish for Christmas Eve. One of seven we’ll be having tomorrow night.”

 

            “Fish?”

 

            “Of course, it’s Christmas Eve. Traditionally all seafood, my friend. The Feast of Seven Fishes. Baccala is a salted cod dish. But don’t worry! If it’s not your thing, I’m sure one of the other six dishes will be.”

 

            Luke gasped. “Six!”

 

            Rossi cocked his head and smirked, “I took it down a bit since there’s only about ten of us.”

 

            Luke did a mental head count and gave Rossi a look. “Ten?”

 

            “I invited our newest agent, Stephen Walker, but I don’t think he can make it. Family’s out of town. And unless they’ve gone to Chicago for family too, I invited the Morgans. Haven’t heard back from Derek yet, but I thought it would be nice to include him. I’m sure the others, especially Reid and Garcia, would love to see him again.” Rossi hoped that answer would satisfy Alvez.

 

            They spent another few minutes slicing peppers and carrots and suddenly Roxy rose from her spot on the floor beside Luke and barked as she ran to the front door. Luke and Dave quickly dropped what they were doing and followed her. Roxy sat by the front door and pawed at it and Luke laughed. Before Rossi could ask, the doorbell rang and Dave gave Roxy a quick look before he opened the door and found Garcia and Lewis standing there, laden down with packages and, in his carrier, Sergio the cat.

 

            Rossi ushered them in, gesturing to the bench in the hallway for their packages, and then took their coats. Garcia gave the cat carrier to Alvez while she took off her coat and Roxy eyed the handover carefully. Sergio meowed and hissed and Roxy tilted her head as though to ask what was wrong with him. Garcia carefully took Sergio out of the carrier and held him reassuringly as Roxy sniffed him. Finally, the dog was satisfied that the cat was not a terrorist or an assassin and stood back as Luke spoke to Sergio in reassuring tones.

 

            Luke and Penelope spent a few minutes making sure their pets accepted each other and then the group moved back to the kitchen. While the two men continued preparing vegetables at the island in the kitchen’s centre, Penelope assembled two enormous salads—one for each day—on the counter by the sink and Tara went through Rossi’s cupboards looking for the ingredients she wanted for baking. She sent Prentiss a quick text after determining several items were missing then set to work, occupying the long counter overlooking the dining room. Roxy resumed her position at Alvez’ feet and Sergio eyed the entire group suspiciously from his perch atop one of Rossi’s barstools.

 

            When the doorbell rang, Rossi excused himself to take delivery of several cases of wine. He made two trips into the kitchen: the first, a case of red wine, which he stowed in a cabinet. The second case was white wine and he put half a dozen bottles in the refrigerator and left the rest in the case on the counter beside the fridge.

 

            An hour later, the kitchen was clean, the fridge filled with prepared vegetables and the house smelled of just baked and still warm shortbread. The four team members had moved into the living room and were nursing glasses of wine as they chatted. Roxy lay on the floor at Luke’s feet and eyed Sergio as the cat padded in a tight circle on the sofa between Garcia and Lewis, finally settling down to sleep, with one eye open and trained on the dog.

 

            “I’m expecting a number of deliveries yet today,” Rossi explained as he circled the room and refilled everyone’s wine glasses. His phone rang and he extracted the device from a pocket and excused himself to the hallway to answer it, and then almost immediately had to answer the door to take possession of another delivery. Roxy finally decided a nap was in order and trusted Luke to keep vigilance over the cat as she fell asleep by his side. He stroked her ruff and told her she was a good dog then turned his attention back to the team members.

 

            Garcia was just telling Lewis that her boyfriend had flown home to Arizona for Christmas. “But I’m okay with that because _this_ is my real family. You guys,” Garcia smiled and reached out to touch Lewis’ arm.

 

            “I told my dad I wanted him and Gabriel to have some time together to reconnect. Without me there, for the first couple days.”

 

            Garcia nodded her agreement with that plan and the two women noticed the faraway look in Alvez’ eyes.

 

            “Hey. Newbie. You okay?” Garcia asked him.

 

            “What?” he shook off his reverie and met their eyes.

 

            “Luke? You okay?” Lewis prompted.

 

            He nodded, “Oh sure. Yeah. Just thinking.” He gestured in the air around his head and said, “See? The smoke?”

 

            The two women chuckled and Lewis reached out to tap his arm. Rossi stepped back into the living room and as he did so, the doorbell rang. He laughed and winked at them as he went to answer the door.

 

            Alvez, Garcia and Lewis quickly followed when they heard the voices of Prentiss and Reid at Rossi’s door.

 

            “Hey!” Emily held out a grocery bag to Lewis, “The stuff you asked for.”

 

            Lewis took the bag from her and quickly peeked inside, “Oh good, now I can make the other cookies.”

 

            Alvez took their coats, and Garcia enveloped each of the newcomers in a hug before handing Sergio to Emily for a reunion. The aloof cat showed Emily more affection than he’d mustered in ages, purring as his original owner cuddled him for a few minutes until Rossi reappeared with a fresh pair of filled wine glasses. Sergio dropped down to the floor and slunk back into the living room where he assumed a new lookout post atop the high back of the larger of two sofas. Roxy, whose nap had been interrupted by the new arrivals, was busy basking in the affection afforded her by Reid, who had dropped to his knees to acknowledge her enthusiastic greeting. Her snout pushed into his knees, and against the small bag he had in one hand and he laughed lightly as he sat back on one knee to open the bag and offer up its contents to the exuberant dog.

 

            Luke laughed when he saw it was another toy for his dog. “Reid, you are gonna go broke at the rate you are buying Roxy toys,” he managed to say between chuckles.

 

            “She saved me a fortune in phone replacement cost,” Reid protested, then addressed the dog, “Whatever toys you want, Roxy. Don’t listen to him.”

 

Alvez laughed again and as Reid finally rose to his feet, he found Rossi holding out a glass of wine to him. “ _Auguri stagionali_ ,” Rossi said as Reid took the red wine from him.

 

            “ _Grazie_ ,” Reid replied as he took a sip from the glass and made an appreciative sound, as he tasted it.

 

            “You!” Lewis took Reid by the arm, “And you,” she repeated, getting Garcia’s attention too, “Come with me.” She made very brief eye contact with Rossi who nodded virtually indiscernibly and then directed at her two charges, “Kitchen.” Reid and Garcia followed Lewis into the kitchen, where she unpacked the bag Prentiss had given her. Bowls, utensils and other ingredients were taken from their respective cupboards and Lewis pulled several pieces of paper from her pocket.

 

            “Gingerbread,” she waved one piece of paper, and handed it to Garcia. The other piece she plunked down on the counter before Reid and said “ _Amaretti_. I’ll help you.”

 

            Five minutes later, the whirring of the electric mixer and the clattering sound of measuring cups and spoons filled the air and not long afterwards, the house once again bore the smell of baking cookies, this time the pleasing scent of ginger and spices.

 

            The trio reappeared in the front foyer just as Alvez came through the front door with Roxy in tow.

 

            “Hadda take her for a walk,” he explained, “Come on girl,” he directed at the dog as the two of them made their way to the kitchen where Alvez gave her dinner.

 

            Once that was completed, he rejoined the others in the foyer. Rossi again refilled wine glasses, for all except Emily. She checked her watch and explained,

 

            “Gotta go pick up Mark at the airport in a bit.”

 

            Together, the team members opened the boxes in the hallway and decorated the Christmas tree Alvez and Rossi had brought in earlier. Alvez climbed up on the stepladder and strung the lights in the tree, while the women hung ornaments and Rossi and Reid took empty boxes back down to the basement. Rossi came back upstairs after his third trip and opened one box, locating the angel for the top of the tree, which he handed up to Alvez to put in place.

 

            “She’s crooked,” Emily offered.

 

            Luke adjusted the angel.

 

            “That’s too far, more to the right. Just a little.” Emily directed.

 

            He sighed and moved her a little. Satisfied, Emily nodded her head and noticed Rossi and Reid going through another box. Reid lifted a package of tinsel from it and held it up momentarily before putting it back in the box.

 

            “This should probably get a pass,” he ventured.

 

            “I love tinsel on the tree, Spencer,” Rossi began.

 

            “It’s probably not a good idea. Cats tend to love tinsel. While I can’t quote you any specific statistics, tinsel presents a significant hazard to cats. They play with it, ingest it and it causes blockage in their digestive system leading to complications requiring surgery and may prove fatal to some.”

 

            “Oh god, absolutely not!” Emily affirmed Reid’s statement. “No tinsel! I’m sorry Rossi, but Sergio loves shiny things,” she paused and got Garcia’s attention and confirmation, “Am I right, Penelope?”

 

            Garcia swallowed the mouthful of wine she had and nodded vigorously, “Yes, Baby loves shiny things. He’s so bad for that.”

 

            “All right then,” Rossi nodded, and dismissed an additional box, one labeled ‘garland.’ “No stringy shiny stuff, this box should go back downstairs too then,” he indicated the garland box. Emily and Penelope nodded and he and Reid took the two boxes containing tinsel and garland back to the basement. Alvez affixed the green bough garlands along the top of the wainscoting rail in Rossi’s foyer and Garcia followed along behind him adding pine cones, red bows and silk poinsettias for festive accent.

 

            The oven timer went off and Lewis and Reid hurried into the kitchen to swap out the now baked gingerbread for the waiting _Amaretti_ , which took only minutes to bake. By the time they had the gingerbread transferred to cooling racks, and the cookie sheets washed and left to dry, the oven timer chimed again and they repeated the process with the second batch of cookies. They left the cookies to cool and rejoined the others in the foyer.

 

            “I think we’re done,” Rossi announced as Alvez returned upstairs from taking the last empty box back to the basement. Emily adjusted the wreath she’d hung on the front door and turned to them for approval.

 

            “Straight enough?”

 

            “It’s perfect,” Lewis told her.

 

            “Okay then,” Rossi nodded to Alvez who plugged the tree light cord into the wall socket and gave Rossi a wave. Rossi flipped the switches, shutting off the chandelier above them and turning on the Christmas tree lights and they all held their breaths at the sight.

 

            “It’s beautiful,” Garcia gushed.

 

            “It’s a little early, but _Buon vigilia di Natale_!” Ross intoned, holding up his wineglass in toast. They all clinked their glasses together—Emily’s held sparkling water—and toasted each other and the occasion.

 

            “Tomorrow we will have a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner,” Rossi began.

 

            “With seven courses apparently!” Alvez interrupted. Rossi grinned at him and continued,

 

“And on Christmas Day, the _Italiana tradizionale cena di Natale.”_ His smile widened and he paused, taking out his cell phone, for a moment and waved it, “But tonight, I ordered pizza. It should be here soon. Thank you, i _miei amici, la mia famiglia_ , for coming today, to help decorate, and bake, and prepare to celebrate this season together with me.”

 

Emily, Tara and Penelope moved the wrapped gifts they’d brought from the bench and arranged them under the tree while Reid rummaged through the front closet to find the gifts stashed in his coat pockets. Rossi retrieved several presents from his study and Alvez went out to his car to bring in a few more wrapped packages.

 

Their pizza arrived shortly and the group reconvened in Rossi’s living room to eat and watch a Christmas movie together. Right around the time Will Ferrell was building Gimbel’s Department store out of Lego, Emily got up from the gathering and Rossi quickly paused the movie.

 

“Airport. Gotta go pick up Mark,” she told them. “Let me know if Buddy gets to reunite with his dad.”

 

Rossi saw her to the door and they exchanged a few quiet words before Emily drove off in the dark. An hour later, Buddy and his family had saved Christmas, and David Rossi was opening another bottle of wine. Tara, Spencer and Penelope were back in the kitchen decorating the ginger cookies and Luke took Roxy for her evening walk. Sergio had moved from one sofa to another earlier and now made his way to the foyer where he now stood sentry over the tree and all the packages.

 

Rossi poked his head into the kitchen to ask,

 

“Is it safe to leave Sergio next to the tree by himself?”

 

Garcia looked up from her work and asked, “What’s he doing?”

 

“He’s just laying by the presents.”

 

“Not pawing at anything?”

 

“No. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was just guarding them.”

 

Garcia giggled. “That’s probably exactly it, Dave.”

 

Cookie decorating completed, Tara and Penelope made their way back to the living room. Spencer hung back, taking out his cell phone and keying in a speed dial number. The call went to voice mail and he sighed and put his phone away. As he walked through the foyer back towards the living room, the front door opened and Roxy and Luke returned from their walk. When they returned to the living room, Rossi presented them each with a fresh glass of wine.

 

“Christmas wishes, people,” Garcia said as she sipped from her glass. “What is your fondest Christmas wish? Or memory?”

 

They all looked around at each other waiting for someone to speak up. Rossi responded first.

“My first Christmas with Caroline. I just made it back from a case; we didn’t have a jet back in those days. I drove nine hours to make it back in time to go to Mass. After Mass, we came home to find the power in the house was out. Spent Christmas Eve huddled in front of the fireplace with every blanket we owned, and a bottle of Chianti to keep us warm. That reminds me,” he interrupted himself. Rising, he moved over to the fireplace mantel and switched on the fire, turning to tell his friends, “Of course, back then, I had to actually bring in wood and build a fire. Didn’t have a gas fireplace in that house. But it was a wonderful Christmas.”

 

He sat back down and toasted Caroline. The others raised their glasses in silent support.

 

Garcia spoke up next, “My wish for this Christmas is that wherever they are, Hotch and Jack have a happy holiday too. That they’re together and safe and even though they’re gone from our lives, they’re not gone from our hearts. Merry Christmas Jack. And Aaron.”

 

Again the others raised their glasses and agreed with Garcia’s sentiment. Rossi’s phone rang and he excused himself to take the call. Alvez, Lewis and Reid shared Hotch memories with each other while Rossi was out of the room. Roxy awoke from her nap and padded over to Reid for some attention. He laughed and told her he didn’t have any more toys for her at the moment but gave her some affectionate pats on the head.

 

Rossi returned to inform them that Derek Morgan had called. “He, Savannah and Hank Spencer have gone to Chicago to spend Christmas with Derek’s mom and sisters. But he sends along his love and best wishes for a Merry Christmas for us all.”

 

“Merry Christmas Chocolate Thunder. And family,” Garcia intoned, raising her glass and toasting, a broad smile crossing her face when the others joined in.

 

Tara spoke of Christmas in Germany, learning about the German traditions and enjoying the snow and sledding and skiing. “We baked _stollen_ , that’s a yeast bread filled with fruit and a ribbon of marzipan down the middle of it, and dusted with powdered sugar. It was the first time I’d ever had an Advent calendar, the Christmas countdown. But there wasn’t chocolate behind each of the twenty-four windows like there is here. Instead, each slot had some kind of Christmas motif. I remember a candle, a snowflake, a picture of a wreath, things like that. It was a magical time. I remember singing the carols in German at church.” She stopped and smiled fondly, then said “ _Fröhe Weihnachten_.”

 

Roxy finally left Reid alone and plopped down on the floor by Luke’s feet. He acknowledged her with a quick belly rub and spoke,

 

“I have to say, I had a great childhood, lots of great memories and wonderful Christmases, but this is the first time in my adult life that I’ve been part of such a good group. It feels like a family, and I thank you all for being so inclusive and for including Roxy. Merry Christmas, BAU family,” he finished.

 

“Merry Christmas, Newbie.” Garcia retorted with a smile. Roxy’s ears suddenly perked up and she rose, hurrying to the front door. Rossi commented on how vigilant she was and followed her to the door.

 

A few minutes later, Emily appeared in the living room holding her long overdue glass of wine. She took a long sip, savoured it and swallowed as she surveyed the group assembled before her. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and spoke,

 

“Well you know how we all drew names for Christmas gifts?” She didn’t wait for an answer and continued, “See, the name I chose, the gift I got for can’t really wait until Christmas. So, continuing the tradition of being somewhat of a rogue, I’m going to have to give my gift now.”

 

The team members—except for Rossi—all gave Prentiss puzzled looks as she stepped into the room and moved towards Reid, who rose to offer her his seat. Instead, she took his hand, squeezed it slightly and said:

 

“ _Mon ami. Mon petit frère. Votre cadeau de Noël vient tout le chemin de la France ce soir.”_

He gave her hand a return squeeze and their eyes locked for a moment.

 

She kissed his cheek, stood back and in a seemingly unnecessarily loud voice, said “ _Joyeux No ël_, Spencer.”

 

            His brow furrowed as he searched her eyes for more information and then he heard Garcia gasp behind him. Turning, his own breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in stunned surprise.

 

            “Hélène!” he exclaimed. He stood motionless for an instant while his brain processed what his eyes were seeing. Before him stood the very person he’d been trying to call for days. The dark-haired charming French _ecrivain_ he and his mother had met in the Paris bistro last summer. The woman he’d been writing to and chatting with via telephone since the day after returning from Paris. The young lady he’d somehow managed to fall in love with despite the physical distance between them.

 

            She took one step towards him and murmured, “ _Joyeux Nöel, mon Coeur_.”

 

            Throwing discretion aside, he stepped towards her and swept her up in his arms, bending his head down to bury it in her left shoulder. “Hélène,” he whispered against her ear over and over, stroking her hair and finally reverting to just holding her close as emotion threatened to overwhelm him. “Oh my God, it’s really you.”

 

            “I’m so sorry,” she told him in her heavily accented English, “that I did not answer your calls or emails, but I was afraid I would not be able to keep quiet our little plan.”

 

            “Shh, shh. Don’t. It’s okay,” he assured her and feeling somewhat relieved himself to finally know why she hadn’t been responding. Behind them, Prentiss was motioning to the others to join her in the kitchen, affording Spencer and Hélène some privacy. Lifting his head from her shoulder, Reid realised they’d been left alone and he steered Hélène to the sofa where they sat down, once again entwined in each other’s arms.

 

            “ _Comment avez-tu et Emily retirer ceci_?” he asked her, sitting back a bit to make eye contact.

 

            She moved one hand up to stroke his cheek and replied, “Remember when you lost your mobile?” He nodded and she continued, “Your coworkers, they found my number in your call history and Emily, she figure out who I was. She, how you say, put one and one together.”

 

            “She would,” Spencer agreed.

 

            “So, Emily, she call me and ask me about us. I told her that we met while you were visiting Paris last summer with your mother. I told her how we ended up having breakfast with your mother every morning and how we toured through Paris with her in the mornings. And how in the afternoons, your mother would be having her rest and you and I would do our own touring. Or just hanging out.”

 

            He acknowledged her with a smile as she continued.

 

            “I told her we write to each other and talk on the phone ever since the summer. So Emily, she ask me if I want to see you at Christmas and of course I say yes. Then we make this plan. And David Rossi help her.”

 

            He hugged her close for a moment, then drew back and asked,

 

            “ _Est-ce que je puis t’embrasse_ r?”

 

            “I have been wishing for this for months, Spencer.”

 

            He bent his head down to hers and their lips met; tentatively and fleetingly at first and as their confidence grew, so too did the hunger in their kiss. Passion flared and the kiss deepened, her tongue found its way between his lips and Spencer found the unmistakable heat of arousal course through him as he reciprocated. They kissed for several minutes until the sound of a sharp voice brought them back to Planet Earth.

 

            “Dammit! Sergio, NO!” Garcia scolded from the foyer as she watched the cat pad his way into the living room. “Come back here! Damn!”

 

            She stood at the entranceway beckoning the cat to no avail.

 

            “Sorry! I’m so sorry,” Garcia apologised as Spencer and Hélène rose to meet the others in the foyer. Reid waved her off,

 

            “It’s okay, Garcia.” Standing next to Hélène with one arm around her, Spencer introduced her to them all, “Tara Lewis, David Rossi, Luke Alvez, the owner of Roxy, you already know my boss Emily Prentiss, and Penelope Garcia—“

 

            “Co-owner of that wretched cat,” Garcia interrupted with a chagrined look.

 

            Hélène smiled at her, “ _Le chat méchant_.”

 

            Prentiss laughed, “I’m the other co-owner of the naughty cat.”

 

            Spencer finished the introduction, “Hélène Girard, my—“ he paused to look at her for confirmation; interpreted the smile she gave him as such, “girlfriend,” and drew her a little closer as he spoke.

 

            She stepped forward to say hello to each of them individually and shake each hand then stooped down to greet Roxy.

 

            “ _La belle chienne. Merci pour de trouver son iPhone.”_

Roxy wagged her tail and yipped then leaned in as Hélène patted her head leading Luke to quip,

 

            “I didn’t know Roxy understood French!”

 

            They all laughed and immediately sobered as Hélène stood up, she swayed and nearly lost her balance and Spencer moved quickly to steady her.

 

            “You’ve had a long day, _ma Coeur,_ you must be exhausted.”

 

            “I am, indeed. I have been how you say, on the go? since six o’clock this morning. Paris time.”

 

            “That’s more than twenty hours,” Spencer exclaimed. Turning to the others, he explained, “I’m gonna make her go and rest. We’ll see everyone in the morning.” He indicated a suitcase standing by the front door and asked Hélène if it was hers. Upon her confirmation, he picked it up and motioned to the staircase. Hélène stepped on the lowest stair and waited as Spencer paused to touch Emily’s arm.

 

            “Thank you,” he told her gratefully, “Thank you for making my Christmas wish come true.”

 

            She squeezed his hand in acknowledgement and inclined her head towards Hélène, whispering, “Go. Good night.”

 

            Rossi led them up the stairs towards the room he’d set aside for Reid earlier. He stopped at a linen closet and retrieved another pillow and a few more towels then continued down the hallway and opened a bedroom door, waving them inside.

 

            He walked through the room to its en suite bathroom and set the additional towels down next to the few that were already on the vanity. Turning, he retraced his steps through the bedroom, past the sitting area with its sofa and armchairs, and bade them _buonanotte_ , shutting the door behind him.

 

            Hélène was in and out of the bathroom in minutes; teeth brushed, makeup removed and changed into pajamas. Spencer settled her into the queen size bed, then took the extra pillow and a blanket and set himself up on the sofa.

 

            Hélène sat up straight in the bed and spoke sharply, “ _Mais absolument pas_!”

 

            “What?” he asked, surprised at the tone of her voice.

 

            “You are not—how you say—stuffing yourself into that little space!”

 

            He opened his mouth to explain and was cut off.

 

            “ _Non! Absolument pas!_ You are so tall, mon chère, it will not do to have you all cramped up in that small space,” she waved her hand at the sofa, and then patted the bed next to her. “This bed is enormous and there is no reason for us not to share—ah.” The reason for his reluctance occurred to her and she stifled a small laugh as she saw him blush. “Do not worry, mon coeur, I will not,” she paused to search for a word then continued, “I will not seduce you tonight. I am too tired. That will require my full faculties. My complete concentration. Please,” she patted the bed beside her, a little further away than the first time, “Please, Spencer, you too must sleep well tonight.”

 

            He picked the pillow and blanket up from the sofa and moved them back to the bed, “You’re sure?” he asked shakily.

 

“Your honour remains intact tonight,” she teased, “as will mine.”

 

He disappeared into the bathroom to change and brush his own teeth, removed and cleaned his contact lenses then returned to the bedside and carefully got in, deliberately situating himself as close to the edge as possible.

 

Taking off his glasses, he set them on the nightstand beside the bed and was now unable to see the smile crossing Hélène’s face.

 

“Tonight. But I cannot guarantee the same for tomorrow,” she promised, “Good night, sweet Spencer.”

 

He leaned over to give her a chaste kiss goodnight and she fought the natural urge to respond, returning the kiss with equal detachment despite her rising desire.

 

Hélène fell asleep almost instantly: her hour long commute to the airport in Paris; the two hour wait after checking in; the nine hour flight during which she was too excited and anxious about reuniting with Spencer to sleep and the two hours for customs clearing and finding Emily at the DC airport followed by their drive through busy traffic to Rossi’s home had all taken their toll and left her completely exhausted.

 

Spencer lay awake for some time, his mind tormenting him with a dozen questions. How did Prentiss and Rossi manage to hide this from him? How had he not seen it? Why did it matter? Why was he questioning his skills at reading people? His mind swirled with other seemingly random thoughts. How did Henry like the telescope Spencer had gotten him for Christmas? Would someone drive him back into downtown DC Christmas morning so he could help out at the homeless shelter as he’d planned? Why did the thought of being with Hélène both terrify and excite him? He could hear the deep, rhythmic breathing of his woman sleeping soundly next to him and felt himself relax. _His woman._ And the answer to his questions came to him and finally let sleep claim him.

 

            Love. It was love, he realised. The love of his family, his teammates. The love of his godsons. His love of people and helping them. And now, most importantly, he realised, his love for Hélène and hers for him. A sense of tranquility flooded through him and he succumbed to the peace of sleep.

 

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            His right shoulder ached. No. It didn’t ache, it was asleep, he amended as he awoke fully and found himself next to Hélène who had turned in her sleep during the night and was now lying curled up against him, with her head resting on his shoulder. His right arm lay beneath her and he curled his right hand along her waist, hugging her against him. The move felt bold to him. Bold yet right, he thought as a smile stretched across his face and he sighed happily and shut his eyes.

 

            He felt her weight shift off his shoulder and opened his eyes to find her propped up on one elbow gazing down at him.

 

            “ _Bonjour mon amour_ ,” she bent down and kissed him; touching her lips lightly against his and then moving along his jaw towards his neck and down against his throat. He moaned in response and brought his left hand up to the back of her head, stroking her long dark hair.

 

            She lifted her face from his neck, kissed the tip of his nose and told him,

 

            “It’s almost ten o’clock. I’m sure the others must be wondering what have I done to you by now.”

 

            He gasped. “Ten o’clock! I never sleep this late!” He moved to get up but Hélène pushed him back down onto the bed and pulled the cover up to his thighs.

 

            “You have another ten minutes or so to sleep. I’m going to take a shower,” she paused and met his eyes. “Alone this time, but _next_ time,” she deliberately left the sentence unfinished as she rose from the bed. She let one hand trail lightly down his chest and abdomen stopping just south of his waistband giving his lower belly the very slightest squeeze as she stood up and made her way to the bathroom.

 

            He took several deep breaths in succession and threw back the blankets so he could sit up. Hearing her singing in the shower seemed immensely intimate and the ramifications threw shivers up Spencer’s spine. Excitement coursed through his veins and he tempered it with more deep breathing.

 

            The water stopped running, the singing ceased and several minutes later, Hélène emerged from the bathroom dressed in dark green pants and a Christmas themed sweater. She held a cosmetics bag in one hand and her hairbrush in the other and motioned to Spencer that the bathroom was his. He retrieved clean clothes from his go bag and made his way into the bathroom, surprised to find that she had apparently toweled the shower down. In all the years he’d shared a bathroom on the road with someone—usually Morgan and occasionally Hotch—no one had ever toweled down the shower before. He wondered if it was a French or European custom or if Hélène was just that considerate.

           

            Half an hour later, they joined the others who were all sitting around the table in Rossi’s formal dining room nursing coffee. After greeting everyone and seating Hélène at one of the empty spots, Spencer poured two mugs of coffee, adding half a cup of milk to one of them and his usual six sugars and some cream to the other. He served Hélène hers, set his down at the place next to her then returned to the side table where Rossi had set up breakfast. He fixed plates for both of them and sat down beside her after setting her bacon, eggs and toast before her. As they ate, Rossi asked if anyone had any plans for the day.

 

            “The reason I ask, it’s Christmas Eve, and I will be attending Mass this afternoon. Anyone who wants is welcome to come with me. And once service is done I will be serving _cena in stile italiano tradizionale vigilia di Natale._ Traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Italian style.”

 

            “That sounds wonderful Dave,” Tara enthused, “And I’ll be going to Mass with you.”

 

            “As will I,” Hélène added and Spencer knew immediately that he’d be accompanying them as well.

 

            “Me too,” Garcia piped up.

 

            Begging off church, Prentiss and Alvez promised to keep an eye on whatever meal accoutrements Rossi deemed necessary and were tasked with setting the table and any last minute preparations. Alvez assured Rossi that he’d make any last minute runs to the grocery store as required and Rossi’s jaw dropped in amazement when Prentiss asked him where he kept the vacuum cleaner.

 

            “Pet hair. We could at least clean that up,” she explained, to much laughter.

 

            “Mr. Rossi,” Hélène began, “Do you have any Grand Marnier or Courvoisier in the house?”

 

            “I believe I do,” he replied, rising to his feet, “And it’s Dave, please.” He made his way to the cabinet where he kept the liqueurs and called back over his shoulder, “Both.”

 

            Bringing the two bottles back with him, he set them on the table before her and with a teasing twinkle in his eye asked,

 

            “I don’t recall there being a custom of drinking either of these for breakfast in France.”

            She laughed lightly and said, “No, Mr.—Dave—I wish to make truffles for the Christmas dinner table.”

 

            “Oh that sounds awesome,” Garcia gushed.

 

            “You will help me?” she addressed Spencer, and he nodded.

 

After breakfast, which Emily and Penelope insisted on cleaning up, Luke took Roxy for a long walk. Once the breakfast dishes were dealt with, Emily and Penelope relinquished the kitchen to Spencer and Hélène.

 

            They spent the rest of the morning making traditional French chocolate truffles—Hélène decided to do half in Courvoisier and half in Grand Marnier—then they placed the two containers in the fridge to cool. She explained that the mixture would have to cool for most of the day, and that after church they would form the truffles into the familiar ball shape and coat them in cocoa or sprinkles.

 

            “Right now, I would like very much if we, too, could go for a nice long walk. I saw the park and the woods as Emily and I drove in yesterday.”

 

            They dressed warmly and set out for their walk as Garcia, Lewis and Prentiss watched from the living room window.

 

            “Aren’t they adorable?” Garcia gushed.

 

            “I don’t think Reid would appreciate being called adorable,” Lewis pointed out.

 

            “No, he’s adorkable actually,” Prentiss replied, “Spoken as a fellow nerd of course.”

 

            “Whatever works,” Garcia smiled. “I’m just thrilled to see him so happy. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s our Boy Wonder.”

 

            “Can’t argue with that,” Lewis agreed. “Hélène is a gem. An absolute doll. And it’s pretty apparent that she adores him.”

 

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            Emily put away the vacuum cleaner and surveyed her work. Satisfied that the floors were sufficiently clean, she did a walkthrough to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, and picked up a few stray glasses in the living room. She’d sent Luke shopping for more wine, as Rossi had perhaps not noticed they’d almost drained the supply of red wine.

 

            Although cooking had never been her strong suit she felt capable enough to chop up garlic and set it to meld in a dish of butter. She found parsley in the spice cupboard and added that to the butter.

 

            “Oh crap,” she realised. There was no bread in the breadbox on the counter. Rossi would never have put it in the refrigerator. She wondered if there was somewhere else in the kitchen he’d store bread and a quick search of all the cupboards and drawers turned up only a loaf of whole wheat bread for toast. Prentiss whipped out her cell phone and sent Alvez another text.

 

            _Sorry to bug you again. Need bread. Please get a couple loaves of good crusty Italian bread and two dozen dinner rolls._

_On it boss_ came the reply moments later.

 

            Satisfied she’d taken care of everything, Emily poured herself a glass of wine and made her way to the living room to enjoy it. Sergio came out from behind the sofa and joined her for some serious affection. Roxy padded by on her way to the back room where Luke had left a bowl of water for her. The pets, Emily was happy to note, seemed to tolerate each other.

 

            “Cheers” she said as she raised her glass in the air for a moment before sitting back comfortably on the sofa.

 

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            A short time later, Dave and the others returned from the church service.

 

            “The priest, he spoke so well. He was very engaging,” Hélène remarked as she stepped through the threshold into Rossi’s front foyer. “It was very different from the church service I am used to. Everybody singing. Such an atmosphere of love.”

 

            “ _Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver_ ,” Rossi quoted, holding the door open for Reid and Lewis as he spoke.

 

            “Second Corinthians chapter nine verse seven,” Reid attributed.    

 

            “Perfect,” Lewis smiled as they closed the door to the cold outside.

 

            “I’ll make coffee,” Prentiss greeted them in the foyer.

 

            “Perfect!” Reid and Rossi chorused.

 

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“Everything is so delicious!” Tara exclaimed, “What’s this dish called again, Dave?”

 

            “Baccala. Dried cod in a garlic and olive treatment and it takes three days to prepare.”

 

            “Cod. Who knew!?” she enthused. “I hated cod as a child, but I never had it like this.”

 

            “It’s a vital part of _La Vigilia_ ,” Rossi explained, “The Feast of the Seven Fishes. Seven different seafood dishes. Like Mama used to make. Alvez here is apparently enjoying _Spaghetti con le Cozze,_ spaghetti with mussels.”

 

            Alvez nodded his enthusiastic agreement with that statement. They’d already enjoyed shrimp cocktail and _Vongole Origanate,_ which Rossi translated to Clams with Oregano and Bread Crumbs. Emily was eating a clam and linguine dish she couldn’t praise enough.

 

            Scallops and shrimp in a tomato-based sauce accompanied another pasta dish, and both Spencer and Hélène were thoroughly pleased with it and with the steamed lobster and fried calamari also being served. An assortment of vegetables and the enormous salad Garcia had prepared accompanied the feast.

 

            “Who thought to get the Pinot Grigio?” Rossi asked, and then thanked Luke when acknowledged him, clapping his shoulder. “I completely forgot about that.”

 

            After dinner, Rossi made espresso and Tara set out a platter of the cookies she and her cohorts had made. Garcia had decorated a personalised ginger bread person for each of the team and they were all laughing at the likenesses.

 

            “Look. Mine says ‘newbie’,” Luke laughed.

 

            “What’s my goatee made of? Chocolate?” Rossi asked.

 

            Emily noted that hers had bangs and Tara appreciated the long styled hair her counterpart had. “This must’ve taken you ages! How come I didn’t notice?”

 

            “ _Amaretti_ , Tara, you were busy with the _Amaretti_ ,” Garcia explained. “Which, by the way are not only very colourful but stupendously delicious.”

 

            “Look at all the hair on Spencer,” Hélène laughed, “and I love the purple scarf.”

 

            “Where’s yours, Pen?” Emily asked, and they all laughed when they saw the kitten ears Garcia had decorated her own cookie with.

 

            “I’m not eating this,” Spencer said. “I want to preserve it. Keep it for posterity. The likeness is amazing,” he chuckled, holding it up next to his face and then made a face when four smartphones immediately appeared to take photos.

 

            They settled in to watch _It’s A Wonderful Life_ together and enjoy each other’s company while the fireplace and cups of cocoa created a warm ambience. Luke sat on the carpeted floor with Roxy snuggled up against him. Tara, Penelope and Emily were sharing the larger of the two sofas with Sergio who kept moving from one potential source of petting to another. David sat in his favourite armchair nursing a glass of Courvoisier and Hélène and Spencer sat on the smaller sofa cuddled together.

 

            Just after the bell on the Christmas tree rang and little Zuzu said “ _Look, daddy Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings_ ” Spencer rose and collected all the cocoa mugs, taking them to the kitchen and placing them in the dishwasher. When he returned to the living room, everyone else was standing and bidding each other good night. Alvez took Roxy outside to let her relieve herself and Penelope and Emily hugged the others before venturing upstairs to the room they were sharing.

 

            Tara took Spencer aside to ask, “What time tomorrow morning did you want to get to the homeless shelter, Spencer?”

 

            “I was hoping to help them out from ten until twelve, that’s when the director asked me to be there.”

 

            “Okay then, we’ll leave here around nine-thirty?”

 

            “Thank you, I really appreciate this.”

 

            He took Hélène’s hand and they went upstairs. Rossi watched them ascend the staircase and turned to Lewis,

 

            “That’s so good to see,” he said, gesturing towards the stairs.

 

            “It is. They’re well suited. They’re both smart and adorable. She’s a writer, did you know that, Dave?”

 

            “No, I didn’t. What’s her gig?”

 

            “She does translating for several European corporations. The instruction manuals for appliances and the like for one company. And brochures and contracts and stuff for a travel agency as well. Companies that didn’t want to rely on Google translate for their foreign customers. That’s her gig to pay the bills. She told me she’s also writing a romance novel on the side that she’s going to try and sell to a publisher here in the US eventually.”

 

            They headed to the kitchen together and Lewis continued, “But don’t let that fool you, Dave. The woman speaks five languages, and can write in six. She’s also a certified yoga instructor though she doesn’t teach anybody at the moment.”

 

            Rossi smiled, “She’s beautiful and smart.”

 

            “And she’s absolutely, totally and completely in love with Reid.”

 

            “Does he know that?”

 

            “I might have mentioned to her that she should be telling _him_ that, not me,” Tara laughed. “All right. Let’s see. Flour. Sugar. Butter. Cookie cutters. Food processor. Cookie sheets.”

 

            Rossi helped her find all those items and the two of them spent an hour baking several batches of shortbread cookies. They washed up as the cookies cooled and Rossi handed her a couple of plastic containers.

 

            “Pack them in these. And it’ll be okay, I won’t need them back.”

 

            “Thanks for your help, Dave. I’m sure the folks at the shelter will be happy to have these treats tomorrow,” she checked her watch and amended her statement, “later today. Merry Christmas and good night.”

 

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            Spencer exited the bathroom and found Hélène sitting up in the bed waiting for him. He climbed in next to her, a little closer than he had the previous night but she closed the distance between them, laying her head against his chest.

 

            “ _Joyeux Noël, mon chère,_ ” she said, nuzzling against his neck.

 

            “Merry Christmas, _ma Coeur_ ,” he replied, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. A thought occurred to him and he voiced it aloud, “I—I’m afraid I don’t have a Christmas gift for you, Hélène, I wasn’t—“

 

            “Ah, but you do, _mon amour._ And we will share that after our visit here at Mr. Rossi’s is done.”

 

            He gave her a puzzled look and she elaborated, “Oh I think you know what I mean, _mon doux homme_ ” and ran her hand suggestively down his chest, across his belly and along his upper thigh giving the latter a squeeze. Realisation dawned on him; he inhaled sharply and stopped her hand with his own.

 

            Shakily he asked, “You’ll come stay with me once Christmas is over?”

 

            “That is my Christmas wish. I came across the ocean, traveling three thousand eight hundred miles to be with you for Christmas. I love that we write and that we talk on the phone, but I missed being with you Spencer. I want to spend every minute I can with you while I am here.”

 

            He bit his lip, “I want that too.” He held her close and another thought occurred to him. “When is your return flight?” he asked, dreading the answer.

 

            “I fly back to Paris January second.”

 

            “That gives us just over a week to spend together. Every waking moment,” he promised her.

 

            “Every sleeping moment, too.”

 

            He gave her another squeeze. “And speaking of which—“

 

            “Yes, we should probably go to sleep now. Tomorrow will be a long and beautiful day, and we start early.”

 

            He drew her into his arms for a lingering good night kiss before disengaging and settling down to sleep.

 

            Outside the window, Mother Nature got into the spirit of the season and graced the city with a light snowfall.

 

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            Just after noon, Tara, Hélène and Spencer returned from their morning mission. As they exited Tara’s car, Spencer thanked her again.

 

            “Tara, thank you so much for making those cookies for the shelter. They really appreciated the homemade touch. It was incredible of you to do this.”

 

            “I was happy to do it, Spencer. Happy to be part of this.” They walked up the drive towards the house, picking their steps carefully due to the snow. Almost an inch had fallen overnight and the result was a lovely blanket of white adding to the festive atmosphere.

 

            Reid opened Rossi’s front door and ushered the two ladies inside. The enticing smell of Christmas dinner greeted them. Rossi was already hard at work in the kitchen. He’d pressed Garcia into table setting duties and Prentiss was helping Rossi. Hélène immediately offered to help and Rossi set her to work roasting vegetables.

 

            Meatballs, eggplant parmigiana, ziti, ravioli and lasagna that had all been made in the days prior were now being heated. As they emerged from the oven or the microwave, Reid and Lewis transported them to the dining room table while Rossi heated several sauces: an Alfredo sauce and a Bolognese sauce. He delegated Prentiss to boil water for spaghetti and linguine for the sauces. Once those were completed, they worked together to prepare _chicken francese_ , The vegetables Alvez had previously spent two hour washing and chopping were next to be cooked. Finally, Prentiss made garlic bread and Rossi praised her successful effort, giving her a thumbs up.

 

            Having completed setting the table, Garcia returned to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the second salad she’d previously assembled. She now added chunks of provolone cheese and soppressata, following the printed instructions Rossi had provided. Next she made the simple oil and vinegar dressing for the salad, then she took the salad bowl and the cruet filled with the vinaigrette out to the dining room and set them on the side table.

 

            Finally, Dave called them all to the dining room, inviting them to join him for _cena di Natale italiano._ He poured Pinot Grigio or Chianti Ruffino into each person’s wine glass then they joined hands and bowed heads as he said Grace.

 

            “I want to thank you all for making _my_ Christmas wish come true. I love each and every one of you and thank you for being such a part of my life. And each other’s lives. The author is unknown, but I’d like to share a quote if I may. _Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you, no matter what_.” he raised his glass in a toast to the assembled group, “To my family, Merry Christmas, _buon Natale._ And _buon appetito_!”

 

            Two hours later, with the Christmas dinner dishes stacked in the dishwasher and the leftovers wrapped and stored in the fridge, they retired to the living room with fresh glasses of wine or cups of espresso. Tara brought in another platter of the cookies they’d baked together and had included the cognac and Grand Marnier truffles Hélène had made earlier. Rossi directed Alvez and Garcia to bring all the presents from under the tree into the living room. They spent another hour laughing at some gifts and marveling at others: Garcia immediately swapped the earrings and necklace she had been wearing for the gaudy Christmas themed ones she’d been given.

 

            “They’re perfect. So me!” she squealed, “Thank you, um,” she looked at the wrapping and found the tag which bore her name but not the donor’s. “Thank you _whoever_!”

 

            Rossi unwrapped a package addressed to him from ‘Secret Santa’ to find a bottle of his favourite Scotch and extended his thanks to his anonymous benefactor. He was also the recipient of several gifts thanking him for his hospitality and he acknowledged each team member’s thoughtfulness as he opened the various items.

 

            Everyone laughed when Alvez opened up his gift. He’d unwrapped a mouse pad, something he really needed for his computer at work, and showed it to them all. It bore a lovely likeness of Roxy, and lettered beneath her image was NEWBIE.

 

            “Thank you Penelope,” he said sincerely.

 

            Tara Lewis was also the recipient of a serious gift. She gasped in delight as she opened a small box in which were nestled a pair of tickets to an antique car show.

 

            “Dave, thank you! This is awesome!”

 

            “I thought you might take your dad.”

 

She nodded in agreement. “He will love it.”

 

Garcia handed over a package to Emily and another to Luke. Wrapped in identical paper but obviously not the same thing. Emily read the tag and exclaimed,

 

            “Oh, how nice! This is for Sergio.” She called him and he eyed her warily from behind Rossi’s armchair.

 

            “Come here you silly cat!” Emily called again, and unwrapped the gift. It was a catnip mouse and Sergio must have caught the scent once it was out of the cellophane wrap. He immediately sprang forward, Roxy or no Roxy, to take possession of the toy and slunk back behind the armchair to deal with the mouse.

 

            “On behalf of Sergio, thank you, Spencer,” Emily told him. Although he hadn’t signed it, she recognised his handwriting immediately. Luke showed Roxy the flat square package that way labeled for her and realised that it, too, was from Reid.

 

            “Come look what Spencer got you, Rox,” he said as he unwrapped the box and found what appeared to be a fabric version of a _Frisbee_.

 

            “It’s called a _Whizzo,_ Luke” Reid explained. “The principle is the same as the _Frisbee_ but being made of heavy duty fabric makes it lighter than plastic and it will fly more efficiently. And it will be more durable against her teeth. It won’t crack or split and hurt her mouth either.”

 

            “And it’s pink!” Garcia pointed out.

 

            “And it’s pink,” Reid conceded.

 

            “Thanks, man, I’m sure she’ll love it.”

 

            “Of course it’s useless indoors—“ Reid began and stopped cold when he saw Roxy gently pick up the _Whizzo_ and carry it over to him. She laid down next to him and held it between her forepaws and then, resting her head on his foot, let out a small yip.

 

            “She’s thanking you,” Luke told him.

 

            “You’re very welcome,” Spencer told the dog. He gave her a pat on the head and was instantly rewarded with a thorough hand licking. Amazingly, he didn’t recoil from the dog’s tongue, a surprised Prentiss noticed.

 

            Wrapped in the same paper as the pets’ gifts had been was one tagged for Emily. She tore off the paper and gasped in delight when she discovered what lay beneath it.

 

            “Oh my God, Spencer. It’s a first edition copy of my favourite Kurt Vonnegut book! How on Earth did you—never mind, of course you would know where to find—thank you so much!”

 

            She reached over and enveloped him in an enormous hug, which ended up disturbing Roxy who let out an annoyed bark.

 

            “Hey, Alvez,” Prentiss teased as she disengaged from the hug, “Looks like Roxy might have a thing for Reid here.”

 

            “Roxy’s not the only one,” Hélène laughed lightly, sliding her arm around Reid’s waist and drawing him closer to her. They shared a quick kiss. For the second time in a matter of minutes, Prentiss was surprised by Reid’s reaction but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she smiled at the thought of how much he’d matured and grown over the years.

 

            “Look, there’s one more package here,” Rossi exclaimed, picking up the long flat gift, he read the tag and passed it across to Hélène.

 

            “But I was not a part of your exchange,” she protested.

 

            “Open it!” Garcia directed.

 

            She did as bade and unwrapped a framed photo of Reid, wearing his glasses and a purple scarf. There was a small envelope tucked into the edge of the glass and Hélène removed that and set it down while she admired the photo.

 

            “I love it!”

 

            “Yeah, I remembered you saying how much you liked the purple. And you mentioned how cute you thought he was in his glasses, so, I just dug through some of our file photos until I found that one.”

 

            “ _Merçi beaucoup,_ Penelope,” she exclaimed, “I very much love this picture.”

 

            “There’s more, read the card,” Garcia prompted.

 

            She unfolded the envelope and removed the card, read it quickly then related its contents aloud, “Penelope promises to teach Spencer a few useful things about his iPhone. Like FaceTime, for example. So when I am back in France and we call to talk to each other, we can actually see each other too.” She furrowed her brow for a moment and asked, “Do I need to have an iPhone for this FaceTime too?”

 

            “Yes, you do, but I have that covered too, actually. I kept my 5S when I bought my 6 so I will give that 5S to you before you go back. Oh, we’ll probably have to get you a simcard adaptor but that won’t be a problem.”

 

            “Thank you again.” Hélène’s eyes filled with tears she fought not to shed, “This is the most wonderful Christmas. I have made new friends. I have learned new traditions. I have shared one of my own. And,” she paused to lean into Spencer for a moment, squeezed his hand and wiped at her eyes with her other hand, “and if I may quote Mother Teresa, _It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving_.”

 

            They were all appreciating the sentiment as Hélène turned her head to say something in Spencer’s ear. Rossi and Prentiss shared a smile and a nod as they pretended not to hear what she said,

 

            “ _Je t’aime tellement_ , Spencer.”

 

 

 _“Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.”_ —Washington Irving

 

 

\---fin---

 

           

 

 

 

 

 


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